Steve and Cathy's Blog

This is the beginning of another cruise adventure for Cathy and Steve, but the cruise itself doesn’t begin until the 15^th. It will take us down through the eastern Caribbean, stopping at four islands. to the mouth of the Amazon River in Brazil. Our ship will spend a week cruising up to Menaus, Brazil and back to the Atlantic, at which time we will head back to Miami, stopping at four islands enroute. 

We are writing this particular post strictly for our own memories. Anyone interested only in our cruise adventure is invited to skip wading though the minutia of our travels up to then – or thereafter, of course. We thank you for your interest in our travels.

Friday, November 11^th: We head for Nashville, flying from Tweed New Haven Airport on Avelo, a new discount carrier that has non-stop flights to six or so destinations. Our good friend Ed Glazewski drops us off right at the door. We have never flown on this airline, or from Tweed New Haven in decades. It still is incredibly small -too small – for all the increased activity provided by the new airline. In other words, they have growing pains, both the airline and the airport.

We have arrived the required two hours prior to takeoff. Security is a breeze. There’s one TSA agent checking in everyone. The only advantage we have with Precheck is we go first before anyone else. We find our way to the waiting area. Fortunately, because we have precheck, there are plenty of seats. It’s Veterans Day, and there is also a flight to Orlando that leaves 15 minutes after us. The waiting area is soon packed – mostly with young people and young families. Great people-watching opportunities, and the tiny snack bar is doing land-office business. Cathy has a nice chat with a family heading for Disney World. It is the son’s tenth birthday and he is wearing a Gryffindor robe. But the parents are a bit concerned because his younger sister is Slytherin! 

The communication between the airline and its customers leaves a lot to be desired. Note that we are not at the gate but in a holding area. We’re due out at 11:45am, and no one seems to know quite what to expect. Shortly after 11, the flight is called – sort of. After a few minutes, Cathy takes a walk toward Gate 3, our gate. Hmmm, it seems appropriate for us to head there.

Gate 2, where the Orlando passengers will board, and Gate 3, our gate, are next to each other. The hallway from the “holding pen” to the gate area, are lined with passengers for both flights. Because we paid extra for Priority Boarding, we sit in the last two seats available. We over hear the gate agent tell the poor Orlando-bound passengers that their flight is overbooked and they need ten volunteers. In fact, they say “this flight is overbooked, and we will not begin the boarding process until ten volunteers come forward. We are offering a $300 voucher. This is not a cash voucher. It is a voucher for a future flight.” Not all that enticing, given the level of service thus far.

Priority boarding is called, and we head to the check-in desk. Wrong desk, but she checks us in and we head for the correct door. We chose Priority because we are using carry-on only. We never do that, and Steve just doesn’t need the anxiety that he won’t find room for his carry-on bag. No problem. Both of us are in Row 5 in the aisle seats. Eventually Cathy’s seatmates and Steve’s seatmates arrive. Steve’s are a 9-year old girl, who gets the window seat (that’s only fair, right?), and big, friendly, courteous dad who is stuck with the middle seat. He is super polite, and almost apologizes for the cramped quarter – insisting that the armrest between Steve and him be put down to; as he put is, “cram me into my seat.”

The cabin staff is very polite, and very professional. Avelo’s problem in the airport is primarily that the terminal is just too small. As we understand it, there are plans to build a new, larger terminal, and it is very much needed. We are excited at the prospect of flying to and from New Haven because it means a friend can take us from Wallingford to Tweed in about twenty minutes. And the small size will, with a new terminal, be a much better flying experience than navigating even Bradley Airport in Windsor Locks.

Our flight is uneventful, and we arrive in Nashville around 1:30pm Central time. It takes a bit to find our way to the pickup area for the hotel shuttles. Steve makes the call to the hotel, while Cathy chats with a passenger whose flight to Dallas has just been canceled. After some difficulty calling the Sheraton Music City Hotel, we find out that their shuttle arrives every twenty minutes. As soon as Steve returns to the pickup area (he had to go outside to get cell service), the shuttle indeed shows up. We board, along with a couple of young women with uniforms on. They’re in a great mood, and it’s a cheerful ride to the hotel.

Our driver tells us that it’s an event-filled weekend in Nashville because it’s the weekend of the Country Music Awards. Plus there’s some kind of huge dance competition in the hotel, so there are dozens and dozens of young girls and women around. Very festive. There is a whole section of rooms set aside for the guests who will attend the wedding, and we are assigned Room 2067. Before we leave check-in, Cathy is handed a large cloth goodie bag compliments of Kasey Fielder and Zach Lardner, the couple getting married. 

We feel honored to be invited to this wedding. Kasey is Cathy’s cousin Buddy’s daughter. They hail from Pittsburgh. Zach’s family is from New Orleans.   Kasey and Zach have had to postpone their wedding for two years due to the pandemic. It’s going to be a fun weekend.

We arrive ready to relax … but hungry. This hotel must be surrounded by eating establishments, because the only one here is called Old Hickory and it’s only open from 6am to 1pm. But the same limited menu is available at the bar, and that suits us fine. We order a Nashville Hot Chicken sandwich, in part because daughter Christina recommended we try it. Our waitperson admitted it was a large one, so we split just one.

Just a couple of minutes later, along come Kristen and Kai! Truth be told, seeing them was the thing we had both most looked forward to. It is an honor to have been invited to the wedding, but because they were coming, we looked forward to it in a special way. We chat for an hour or so, and before we know it, it’s almost 5. It’s really time to relax, especially because there is an open bar cocktail party being thrown by Zach’s parents beginning at 6:30. As they are from New Orleans, we figure this is a can’t-miss occasion! So it’s back to the room to just sit around and do nothing. 

The cocktail party is outdoors in a very attractive terrace surrounded by rooms. We spot the KKs (our shorthand for Kristen and Kai), as well as Joanne, Kristen’s mother, and her special friend Fred. We sit with them and catch up some more. About fifty or so people are there, and the party is very fun. It ends at 8pm – just as well. It’s been a long day, and we crash, agreeing to meet for breakfast in the morning at 9am.

Saturday, November 12^th: We do indeed meet for breakfast at Old Hickory. Breakfast vouchers come with the room, and we are there first. Kristen and Kai arrive two minutes after us. More relatives follow, so there is tons of conversation to go with our delicious breakfast buffet. We both like to eat regional dishes we can’t get at home, so Cathy has grits and Steve has biscuits and sausage gravy. 

Back to the room around 10 to rest up for the wedding festivities. We go through the goodie bag again, which includes a manifest of the three buses. We are in Bus 1, the Fiedler bus. There are three buses altogether, all of which are leaving at 1:30. The day before, the driver of the airport shuttle warned us that it was a one-hour journey to the wedding venue. 

Now, the weather has changed dramatically. The evening before, the outdoor cocktail party was held when temperatures were in the high 60s. Today’s weather is clear but cold – in the high 40s.  Our first taste of the weather is getting on the bus. We really aren’t dressed for such weather, and neither is anyone else. The bus ride is indeed an hour, and ends with a fifteen-minute drive on narrow, winding farm roads. 

We arrive at 2:19pm. That is important to note because we were told that the venue doesn’t open until 2:15, so, if we are early, we are to stay on the bus. Now it’s cold and windy. We are all ushered into a large, long room with practically no furniture other than a table loaded with cookies. We mill around greeting one another, including Cathy’s cousin John Fiedler, the movie producer, and his actor wife Bess Armstrong (one of the classiest and nicest people ever!). 

On our way in, we note that the wedding location, with all the chairs and platform, is outdoors! Surely they’ll move it indoors, right? Wrong. Kasey and Zach have been waiting for three years to hold this wedding, and are justifiably determined to have it where planned. So all the guests are ushered outside to take our seats. Then the wedding procession begins, accompanied by recorded music. The bridesmaids are dressed in beautiful sleeveless gowns, and they must be freezing. 

The proceedings begin, with the person conducting the ceremony acknowledging the freezing cold weather, promising that this will be handled with dispatch. Everyone sucks it up and the fifteen-minute ceremony proceeds. It is lovely, and the vows that they are reciting are very moving. As the announcement is made that they are man and wife, Zach lets out a cheer. Very fun moment.

Then it’s a quick retreat back to the hall. A one-hour cocktail party ensues. Yummy meatballs. We think they are made with black angus beef because the place is surrounded by them! Cathy soon wants to sit down, so we head for the room where the reception will take place. We find that we are at Table 3 with Mark Fiedler, Jeff Fiedler, John Fiedler and Bess Armstrong, Konrad and Tammy Fiedler, and Steve and Cathy. A good group for sure. Steve sits next to Tammy and learns a great deal about this very interesting person.

It’s now 3:30pm, and we party away. 

Dancing begins at 6, and, unfortunately, the music is …. well … not to our taste. Cathy begs cigarettes from Cousin Mark and Cousin Buddy, father of the bride. Even though it’s freezing cold, it gets us outdoors away from the music. This is an interesting phenomenon. The people we meet out there smoking are invariably convivial, and interesting conversations are always part of this ritual.

We notice that a lot of the Fiedlers begin to disappear. Apparently, some of them drove to this place, and they are heading back to the hotel early. Cathy suggests we find a ride as well, but Steve demurs, saying that it would be rude of us since we aren’t part of the immediate family. So we stick it out until 8pm. We board the bus and Steve immediately falls asleep. 

It’s been a long day, and we head for the room as soon as we arrive back. Too much wine, too much time in the cold. We both crash – hard.

Sunday, November 13^th: We are awakened around 8:30am by a text from Kai. They are leaving this morning and will be in the Old Hickory restaurant in twenty minutes. We jump into action. Steve showers – there is no way he can postpone this crucial activity until later, especially this morning. But we get ready asap and wander down. Of course, the KKs are already there, along with Joanne. We have a long chat, find out that Kristen is spending two weeks on an island retreat in Brazil. She is flying there today, and wants to be the required three hours prior to departure since she’s on an international flight.

[Quick aside: She has to fly to Atlanta first on a domestic airline, then switch terminals to get to the international airline. Why would she have to be three hours early to the airport in Nashville for this domestic flight? Just because her next flight is international? Steve doesn’t think she’s correct, but no way will he raise the subject.]

We have a nice time at breakfast. Joanne and Fred are heading for Puerta Vallarta, Mexico to his son’s wedding, so we say our goodbyes to everyone and head back to our room. Our plan is to visit the Museum of African-American music. It’s 10:30am, and it opens at noon. Cathy says she is too wiped out and doesn’t want to go. Steve agrees, much to Cathy’s relief. Today is going to be a recovery day.

Lunch back at Old Hickory. Back to the room to do nothing. Back to the bar for dinner, where we meet up with cousins Buddy and Jeff. They were ready to leave, but stayed to join us for a while. We’ve almost memorized the menu by now. Cathy has a yummy chopped salad with chicken; Steve has quesadillas. The menu is limited, but every meal we’ve had is really good.

Back to the room. It’s been the quietest day we have had in ages, but desperately needed after yesterday’s festivities.

Monday, November 14, 2022: Today we fly to Miami. Our wonderful travel agent Judi Gallagher has booked us on an 11:35am Southwest Airlines flight. Neither of us have ever flown Southwest, but we know that their boarding procedures are quite different than other airlines. The feature we most concerned with is the lack of assigned seats. But, more than that, Steve is most concerned that, by the time we have an opportunity to board, all the overhead baggage bins will be full.

We have another very nice breakfast at Old Hickory. The place is virtually empty because it’s Monday morning. The one waitperson, whose name we learn is Rovena, brings us coffee and we hit the buffet. Another delicious meal with very pleasant service. Even though we have a breakfast voucher, we feel it important to tip her $5.00 and then leave.

Well, Cathy wants to be at the airport at 9am, and that’s fine with Steve. We check out, hang around the entrance, and have only five minutes to wait for the shuttle. Off we go. We’re dropped off at Southwest, and go to “Full Service” check-in. Another mystery as to what that term means, but we get a wonderful reception from Ashlee. We admit to being newbies, and decide to check Steve’s bag. It turns out to be free. Another Southwest mystery. We tell Ashlee our Boarding numbers, B26 and B27, and she assures us we’ll have no problem. She wishes us well on our first Southwest flight, and we head for Gate C22. It’s quite a hike, but we have tons of time.

C22’s seating is packed, so we find two seats in the C21 area. Cathy strikes up a conversation with the woman next to her who is heading for Sarasota, tells her we have no idea what is going on, and she explains the boarding process. When she learns we are B26 and B27, she also assures us that these are good numbers and we’ll have no problem finding seats together.

Around 10:45, we move to seats in C22, and Cathy again strikes up a conversation with a very friendly young woman. She shows us exactly how this is going to work, which is a huge help. Steve has said that this process must be easy because millions of people a year fly Southwest over and over. And, indeed, it is. 

We enter the plane and notice there’s no First Class. As we begin to look for seats, we see that all the window and aisle seats are taken. We end up three rows from the very back of the plane in order to sit together. The flight is uneventful, except for one thing: the sense of humor of the young male flight attendant giving us all the required instructions. He has honed this normally deal recitation into a irreverent comedy routine. We loved it.

This included disembarking. He said things like: “If you have something you didn’t like about this flight, or any of us, please take a $10 or $20 bill and put your remarks in it. We will be sure to pass you comments along.” Or: “If you are connecting to another Southwest flight, we will help you make your connection. If you are connecting with another airline, then we don’t care.” He finished off with something like: “The plane has now arrived at the gate. Now GET OUT!” If this is what to expect on Southwest, count us in to be making future flights with them.

We go to baggage claim and Steve’s bag is one of the first ones off. He calls Uber, types our location and destination. We get a reply that someone is four minutes away but heading to then wrong location. Steve contacts her by text, gets it straightened out, finds out what color and model car she is driving. She pulls up in a gray Honda Pilot and pops open the rear hatch while Cathy gets in the back seat.

She finds a Versace bag and says to the driver: “Is this yours? Nice bag!” Reply from her: “Please hand me the bag.”  Steve gets in. She’s on her phone and we guess she’s looking up how to get to the Intercontinental Miami Hotel. She’s also talking to someone at the same time, but it’s in Spanish, but, even so, we can tell it isn’t someone giving her directions. She leaves the airport, gets on an expressway, still gabbing away with someone. She hasn’t said one sentence to us. Then she pulls over and continues to check her GPS. Off we go again, and in ten silent minutes, we have arrived. We get out, she pops the hatch, a porter takes out our stuff and closes the hatch, and she takes off without so much as another word. She really should not be an Uber driver. Zero personality. Zero knowledge of the geography of Miami. A good driver, per se, but should never, ever be gabbing on the phone while customers are in the car. We give no extra tip and check Driver Not Polite on the review. She was awful.

But we’re here, and it’s only around 3pm. We check in, go up to Room 1905, and discover that our miracle-worker travel agent has, as we requested, gotten us a room overlooking the Port of Miami.

In fact, Steve is pretty sure it’s the same room as we had in January beginning our Caribbean cruise, because the window has a strange abrasion in one spot that he remembers from our previous stay.

It’s time to go to Whole Foods. Whole Foods, you ask? Yes. We went there on our last visit because the prices at the ToroToro restaurant in the hotel were … and no doubt still are … astronomical. It’s a three-block walk, and we’re there in fifteen minutes. We grab some sushi, a couple of beers for Steve and go back. We were intending to do some additional shopping at a CVS drug store a block away, but Cathy’s hip arthritis is acting up and Steve has had enough running around for the day. We wander into this 5-star hotel carrying our $30 Whole Foods dinner. Pretty incongruous, but I’ll bet we aren’t the first ones and certainly won’t be the last.

It’s around 5. We missed lunch, so we’re ready to eat. We listen to the afternoon news and eat. That doesn’t take long, so around 6, Cathy checks out the offerings on TV. We borrow Christina’s Netflix account information, but the password is wrong. So she keeps looking and finds the new Elvis movie. Perfect!

For next two hours, we lie on the bed quite enthralled with this movie. Elvis is played by Austin Butler and Colonel Tom Parker by Tom Hanks. It runs 159 minutes, but by the end of it, we are both truly impressed by every aspect of the film. A really great finish to another hectic day. 

We’ve enjoyed these last four days immensely, but it’s time for the main attraction: our cruise begins tomorrow. Time to rest up.